ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: PREP EXTRA : Big Play Costs Orange Lutheran Title

Just where was Kenchasa Amos most of Friday night?

Under relentless pressure from just about everyone attached to fourth-ranked Orange Lutheran, one of the premier running backs in Division X from top-ranked Cerritos Valley Christian was held in check for all but one crucial play in the Olympic League showdown.

And that play cost Orange Lutheran a league title.

Amos burst up the middle of the Orange Lutheran defense from the Lancers’ 23-yard line with only 17 seconds remaining Friday at Crusader Field, cut to the right sideline and bowled his way into the end zone to help Valley Christian beat the Lancers, 36-31, in front of about 1,500 spectators.

The score upstaged a dramatic 56-yard punt return for a touchdown by Orange Lutheran’s Che Holloway only a minute and a half earlier. That play staked the Lancers to a 31-29 lead and appeared to stun the Crusaders.

But Valley Christian, which started at its 16-yard line with 1 minute 47 seconds left in the game, used the clock well to move within field-goal range.

Amos, who was working on one of his career rushing lows (86 yards), was supposed to take the ball into the middle of the field on a play that was designed to get a few more yards for kicker Kyle Petteys.

But the Valley Christian line opened a large hole. Five yards into the run, Amos cut to his right, ran around one Lancer at the 14 and sprinted to the two, where he put his head down and took another defender into the end zone with him.

“We just wanted to get a yard or two closer because we fell a yard short earlier this year in a similar situation,” said Valley Christian Coach Mike Wunderley. Valley Christian (9-1, 5-0 in league) lost a nonleague game against Lakewood Mayfair when it missed a field goal from a similar spot at the end of the game.

Orange Lutheran did an outstanding job of bottling up one of the division’s best offensive attacks by stunting and blitzing Crusader quarterback Kirk Saarloos and keying on Amos. Saarloos, who began the game with 1,384 yards in the air, managed only 105, 33 of those on the final drive.

And Amos, who has rushed for 1,458 yards this year, was largely upstaged by Holloway, who rushed for 100, punted for an average of 34 yards, had return yardage of 94 yards and threw the longest pass of the evening, 67 yards to Tim Smith to set up a score.

Many thought this would be a blowout, but Orange Lutheran had other ideas.

“Our kids have tremendous heart,” said Orange Lutheran Coach Jim Kunau. “They are tremendous overachievers and we’re proud of them.”